The Stargate Universe

Saturday, April 25, 2009

The Stargate Universe

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…." was a tagline that brought the concept of SciFi into the mainstream and opened up our world and our imaginations. In the three decades following the launch of the Star Wars franchise, we have seen many incarnations of Science Fiction series come and many more go. Series like Star Trek, Babylon 5, FireFly, Battlestar Galactica, Andromeda, Earth: Final Conflict and a slew of others. However, there exists one unique franchise which has remained a prevalent player in the SciFi space despite the demise of much of their competition.

The Stargate Universe as an entity has existed since 1994 and has since grown into a global dynasty encompassing a Movie, 2 television series, comics, books, audio books, games, toys and an assortment of FanFiction.

The Stargate Universe all began with the initial film, written by Dean Devlin and directed by Roland Emmerich. The film turned out to be a mega hit with worldwide sales of $196,600,000 and a $55,000,000 cost of production. The film was initially intended to be part of a multi-film franchise however, due to scheduling issues and differences in creative visions between Devlin/Emmerich and MGM, the initial vision was never carried out. It was in fact this disagreement that led to the studio execs evaluating other ways to capitalize on the success of the film.

The executives decided a television series would allow for long-lasting opportunities and with that Stargate SG-1 debuted on July 27, 1997 on the Showtime premium cable network. After seeing impressive ratings on Showtime, the studio wanted wider distribution and moved the series to the SciFi network where it immediately became a cult classic. The series led by Richard Dean Anderson of MacGyver fame lasted for a total of ten seasons and on average cost MGM $1,400,000 to shoot. By its final season, the show surpassed the ratings of big hits like X-Files and attaining the title of the longest running consecutive sci-fi series on television. After an incredible ten year run, Stargate SG-1 was discontinued in August of 200, but the franchise lived on as Stargate Atlantis.

Stargate Atlantis was created in 2004 as a two part season finale for season 8 entitled "Lost City". The plot involves a group of military forces and civilian scientists that travel to the Pegasus galaxy in search of the Lost City of Atlantis. In its current incarnation, the series has seen great success and has proven over the years to draw the same level of followers as SG-1.
The future of the Stargate Universe is scheduled to include two direct-to-DVD films being released later this year entitled "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" and "Stargate: Continuum". In addition, there was a 2006 Comic-con announcement by Stargate creator Dean Devlin that he is currently in talks with MGM to produce the final two films in the trilogy and leverage the talents of James Spader and Kurt Russel.

The series today stands out as a remarkable example of creativity and vision of a better future. The series is one that will live on in multiple incarnations moving forward as ling as it retains the excellent writing staff and an uncanny ability to explore current social and political issues in a unique way.

Author: Morgan Kelps

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Enjoy The Prologue From My Upcoming Book.. "Strolok"............by R.Goldberg

"WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR RACE WAS TARGETED FOR EXTINCTION?"

The Sun is a powerful force in our Universe. It brings us light, warmth and a promise of a galaxy beyond the stars. Often we associate massive flashes of light with the reflection of our Sun's light bouncing off of another surface.

This is not always the case though, especially if you believe that we are truly not alone in the Universe. When we witness things that we can't readily explain we sometimes turn our heads and shrug our shoulders in a display of apathy.

A display such as this occurred on Friday January 29, 1982 at the Crater Lake National Park just outside of Chemult, Oregon. The snow had been falling steadily for a period of four days. The winds had been whisking about at 40 miles per hour.
Then there was one of those unnatural flashes of light. This created an eerie silence as a lanky boy, just nine years old, seemed to appear from out of that flash. If he had walked to this point there would have been a distinct trail in the newly fallen snow.
There was no trail and as a matter of fact the only tracks in the snow were the ones that outlined his feet where he was standing.

He began to trudge through the snow wearing what could only be described as dark brown long johns. He seemed dazed yet, at the same time, very clear about the direction that he was travelling. This boy with no identity or name seemed to be on a mission that would take him to places he had never been before.
His main goal was to reach Chemult, Oregon and he had no intention of stopping until he accomplished this. As strange as it seems the extreme cold seemed to have little or no effect on him at all.

Why Chemult? What was so special about this town located at an elevation of 4,758 feet above sea level in a frozen winter wilderness in Oregon?

The town of Chemult was first opened to the local traffic in 1926 and here in 1982, with its population of only 241, offered little in the way of comfort for a nine year old boy who was all alone. This journey, although prompted by something deep inside of him, did not provide a feeling of comfort and yet he had hoped that he would at least experience a feeling of accomplishment once he reached the town.

The wind was getting stronger and he noticed a small piece of yellow paper tattered and torn from whipping about in the snow. He only stopped long enough to
pick up this paper..........it read:

.....With the winter season here there was a lot of fun to have. Travelling miles of open trails on snow mobiles skiing or simply hiking, but there are dangers of doing so. Please remember safety first. Do not travel alone and be sure someone knows where you are and where you are going before travelling our trails, and please read the safety rules and codes of ethics before hiking the trails...

Nightfall was near and he had already walked 38 of the 40 miles needed to reach Chemult. He was just off of Route 97 when he spotted an old barn just about 200 feet NE of his present location. Making his way to the barn he went in and found it to be totally deserted, it was a perfect place to rest for the night.

Morning had arrived and once awake the boy started to look around the barn in the daylight light to see if there was anything that was lying in the barn that he could use to assist him on his trek.

Over in the far corner of the barn he found an old metal locked box that had long been forgotten. It was all rusted out and the key was nowhere to be found. After several failed attempts to open the box the young boy closed his eyes, sat back on his tired limbs and placed the palm of his right hand on top of the box. All of a sudden a dull red glow appeared from his right palm and the box lid flew open. Strangely enough once the red glow disappeared all that remained was a faint thin black outline where the outside of the red mark had appeared on his palm. Inside of the box he found several items all of which were unfamiliar to him and it was obvious that they had been there
for a very long time.

The contents included a tattered passport with the picture missing, a pocket knife, a compass, an antique pocket watch with a broken crystal, a time-worn souvenir porcelain coffee mug with the words; "Atlanta, Georgia, The Peach State, A Perfect Place to Live", on it and a frayed map of the Metro Atlanta Area It was difficult to make out the name on the passport but with a couple of light brushes with his fingers he saw the name Jason Tredmore. This is now who this boy would become.

Sci-Fi Blast

Saturday, April 25, 2009